1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric motor and more specifically, to an electric motor for use in a hard disk drive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk drive apparatuses, such as hard disk drives, typically have spindle motors arranged to rotate disks installed therein. An example of a conventional spindle motor is disclosed in JP-A 11-218128 and includes a motor frame, a housing, a stator, and flexible printed wiring. The housing is cylindrical in shape and is defined integrally with the motor frame. The stator is press fitted and thereby fixed to an outer circumference of the housing. Terminals of coil wires of coils included in the stator are connected to the flexible printed wiring, which is arranged on an upper surface of the motor frame, through solder.
An interior space of a disk drive disclosed in JP-A 2006-40423 is filled with a low-density gas, such as helium, hydrogen, or the like. This contributes to preventing vibrations of a disk and a head, thereby enabling highly accurate data recording.
In the case where lead wires of coils are connected to a circuit board through a solder at positions radially outward of a stator, the solder may come into contact with a rotor magnet of a motor. In the case where the coil wires and the flexible printed wiring are connected to each other through the solder under an outer edge portion of a stator core as described in JP-A 11-218128, the operation of performing the soldering may be cumbersome. Moreover, it is very likely that fumes or flux will be adhered to the stator during the soldering operation.